[ 2016-12-06 ]

NAFTI to be elevated to university status
The National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI)
is to be elevated to the status of a University
College of Media and Creative Arts, to provide
professional training to support the growth of the
media and creative arts industry in Ghana.
That follows approval from Cabinet to move the
institute, which is under the Ministry of
Communications, to the Ministry of Education.

The Rector of the NAFTI, Prof. Linus Abraham, who
announced this at the 18th matriculation ceremony
of the institution, described the planned
transformation as a “great achievement.”

That, he said, was because management had been
fighting for a university status for many years,
explaining that, “the transformation is intended
to revitalise the institute and make it more
relevant and germane to the development of the
media arts economy as a viable area of growth for
Ghana.”

Seventy-four new students were admitted to the
institute to study various programmes.

New courses

With their new status, Prof. Abraham said, NAFTI
would continue to have film and television
training as its core, but would provide training
at undergraduate and graduate levels in areas such
as graphic design, production design, photography,
animation, multimedia production among other
programmes.

Considering the opportunities in the creative arts
industry, he indicated that it had become
necessary for the establishment of comprehensive
media arts colleges and universities that
recognised convergences and cutting-edge
technological developments.

“NAFTI as a Media and Creative Arts University
will better serve the ever-growing convergences in
the creative and media arts industry in the
country,” the Rector added.

Prof. Abraham advised the matriculants to be
disciplined, obey the rules and regulations of the
school and position themselves to enable them to
start up their own businesses after school.

Opportunities

The Editor of the Daily Graphic, Mr Ransford
Tetteh, who was the special guest at the ceremony,
said media convergences offered various
opportunities to industry players.

He said it was for this reason that the Graphic
Communications Group Limited (GCGL), noted for the
production of different brands of newspapers
including the Daily Graphic, wanted to venture
into television production.

“The new digital and telecommunication
technologies facilitates a global reach that was
previously impossible. Take full advantage of the
new media technological facilities at NAFTI to
enhance creativity and reach into the global
digital media environment,” the editor advised
the students.

Mr. Tetteh further urged the students to consider
NAFTI as a platform to achieve their dreams, a
vehicle for structural transformation as well as
mechanism for improving the competitiveness of
their talents.

“You must take your studies seriously and take
advantage of the expansion and dynamism of the
creative arts industry to diversify your creative
intellect to cover other fields in the
fast-growing and converging fields in the digital
media,” he said.

Discipline

Mr Tetteh further advised the students to widen
their scope of thinking, uphold intergrity and be
disciplined.

A board member of NAFTI, Dr Awo Asiedu, urged the
students to be disciplined, respect one another,
trust in the Lord and work hard to fufil the
purpose for which they gained admission to the
instituition.

In his remarks, award-winning Ghanaian film-maker
, Mr Kwaw Ansah, urged the matriculants to work
hard and see themselves as important people who
could make relevant contributions to the growth of
society.

Source - Graphiconline

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